Forest Gate Community School Fly, Grow, Connect, Strive
Summer 2019
Forest Gate teaching staff at the awards ceremony
So close to top school award for second time Forest Gate was shortlisted for the most prestigious award in education for the second time in three years. It was shortlisted for the TES award in the Secondary School of the Year category, having also been nominated in 2017. Staff attended the awards dinner hosted by comedian Harry Hill, held at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s Mayfair in June. Forest Gate was among eight secondary schools shortlisted after recording among the best GCSE results in the country for three years in a row. Eight secondary schools were shortlisted nationally by a panel of education experts, with the winner announced on the night. But despite being the only school to have received a previous nomination, the school
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once again was pipped at the post. Head of School Charlotte Whelan said: “It is truly a mark of the quality of teaching and leadership at this school that we have once again been nominated for this highly prestigious award. “To have come so close and not win for a second time is disappointing because we have got used to setting very high standards and reaching them. This year we were once again up against very tough competition. It
Forest Gate Community School newsletter n Summer 2019
is a privilege and an honour to have been nominated alongside truly inspirational schools. “While we are pleased to be shortlisted and would have loved to take this award back to Newham, the true prize in the work we do is the transformative effect it has on the lives of our students.” TES Editor Ann Mroz said: “It is wonderful to see such great ideas and excellent practice emerging from our schools and teachers, especially at a time when schools are under financial pressure. “We had a record number of entries this year and the standard was very high, so all those shortlisted should be very proud. It’s an extraordinary achievement to be on this shortlist.”
Elena’s ready for an exciting new chapter TALENTED Elena Cazan has become the latest student to win a scholarship to a top independent school via our Prestigious Colleges programme. The Year 11 will he takes her place to study A-Levels at the 500-year-old Chigwell School next September after coming through a rigorous selection process. Elena was mentored throughout the application process by staff at the school, receiving coaching on her application, exams and interviews. Elena said: “I am extremely happy to have the hard work put in by myself and the teachers at Forest Gate pay off. “I know this is a wonderful opportunity and I intend to grab it with both hands. “I would like to say a big thank you to the staff at Forest Gate for their encouragement, support and hard work. “It is because of their help that I am
about to embark on this exciting new chapter in my life.” The pioneering Prestigious Colleges programme, started at the school in 2013, has seen pupils swap Forest Gate for the top feepaying schools in the country. In fact, two former students have won places at Princes William and Harry’s old school, Eton College – Ishak Ayris in 2015 and Kaashif Kamaly in 2017. Pupils have also joined the world-famous Winchester College, The Latymer School in West London and City of London School. Executive Headteacher Mr Elliott said: “Elena has joined a growing list of students who have had the course of their lives altered thanks to this pioneering programme. “She is a hardworking, diligent and engaging young woman who is capable of achieving truly great things in the future. We wish her every success.”
Bright future: Elena Cazan is on her way to Chigwell School
Students get taste of life at university CLEVER Year 11 students did not get much break from learning this summer after being selected to take part in the London School of Economics Summer School. Just weeks after completing their GCSEs, Thuraya, Tazrian, Raees, Christina and Aida spent a week on the world-famous university’s widening participation scheme in July. They took part in a series of workshops covering a wide variety of topic including economics, sociology, government and politics and law. They also got the chance to meet current students and lecturers, tour the campus and find out about life as an undergraduate. The Year 11s were among just a handful of students across the country picked for the programme after coming through a rigorous selection process. Raees said: “Spending a week at such an incredible university was a truly eyeopening experience for me. It really made me ambitious to one day study here as an
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undergraduate. The environment at LSE is familiar to me because at Forest Gate you are expected to aim high. “You are excited to want to go to a top university. “It is a very academic place to go to school, so LSE was not daunting to me
because I am used to it at Forest Gate. It felt like home. “These are the kinds of opportunities that are available to students at this school. It was a great experience and really set me up for my next phase of study at A-Level.”
Forest Gate Community School newsletter n Summer 2019
Health ambassadors help raise awareness STUDENT health and happiness is being promoted by a newly appointed group of wellbeing ambassadors. The group has been given special responsibility in certain areas such as antibullying, mental health and online safety. Year 10 ambassador Annieka Archibald said: “It’s working really well. We are raising awareness about mental health in the school and helping other students with any problems they might be facing. “It’s a great initiative that is really benefiting students. It is important that a school takes
Promising athletes: From the left, Ruby, Esme and Eleanor ran the mini marathon Aims: The health ambassadors gave a presentation to their fellow students mental health wellbeing seriously. They do at this school.” The school currently has six Year 10 ambassadors who have been given training for the role. Jamal Dale said: “It has definitely made me think more about mental health and how important it is. But students can come to us about any health issues or problems they might be having. “I think there are some things that students might not want to talk to adults or teachers about, so I’m really happy this scheme has been put in place.”
Trio rub shoulders with Mo THREE Forest Gate students ran alongside Olympic hero Sir Mo Farah after competing in the Mini London Marathon. Year 9s Esme Jones, Ruby Debenham and Eleanor Hind are celebrating running fantastic times after being selected to take part in the world-famous race. Students aged between 11 and 17 from across the country sign up to run the mini race, which is made up of the final three miles of the London Marathon. Esme said: “We saw Mo Farah and the
atmosphere was just incredible – everyone was cheering and shouting. It was such a great thing to be a part of. I was really glad I got the opportunity.” Ruby said: “There were students from schools all over the country. The only bad thing was we had to be up really early but the atmosphere made up for it.” Eleanor added: “I really hope I get the chance to do it again next year. It was such a great day and an amazing opportunity. My parents were really proud.”
YEAR 9 students from Forest Gate will mentor younger pupils at Godwin Primary School as part of a new literacy partnership.
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Forest Gate Community School newsletter n Summer 2019
Budding engineers in top challenge victory TALENTED Year 7 students impressed some of the world’s top engineers with their plans to eradicate air pollution caused by cars and lorries. The four-strong team fought off tough competition from schools across London to take first prize in The Bright Ideas Challenge regional final. The winning team’s bright idea was to introduce windows that capture solar power, which could be used in buildings as a more sustainable energy source. James Lynskey, Rayan Junaid, Usman Ahmed and Eric Tadlas will donate the £1,500 prize money to the school’s STEM department. The team will now get the chance to prototype their idea when they compete against 12 other schools from across the country for the £3,500 first prize in the VIP STEM experience final. Eric said: “Solar-powered windows seemed like a good idea because most cars are parked outside and they could just soak up energy while stationary.” James added: “We came up with an idea for an engine that runs mostly on solar power but would have the option to switch to petrol if you were driving at night or it was a really cloudy day. “If most cars were not emitting exhaust fumes, the air would be a lot cleaner. To do so well, considering we were among the youngest students in the competition, was amazing.” The Big Idea Challenge, sponsored by
energy company Shell in partnership with Teach First, asks students to devise innovative solutions that could power cities of the future. Careers and Aspirations Lead Farjana Aktar said: “I am so proud of them. They had such a
short amount of time to come up with an idea and a presentation. “They impressed some of the world’s best engineering minds at such a young age. I’m totally in awe of their talent.”
New champs are wizards off the wall OUR Year 9 and 10 students have been crowned the borough’s first Wallball champions after beating all-comers at the Newham Championships. The team won a series of matches against schools from across Newham to take the gold medal at the event held in May. Wallball is a new sport for schools, which aims to increase active participation, decrease chronic health conditions and tackle youth exclusion. Year 9 Siddh Patel said: “I had never heard of Wallball before I started playing it at school. But it’s a really fun game. Each game is really fast and they’re only three minutes long, so you can’t make mistakes. “The competition lasted about two hours, which was very tiring. I am proud to have brought the gold medal back to Forest Gate and become a Wallball champion.” Players compete by hitting a ball against a wall with their hands. Wallball has now been accepted as an official World Games sport and will soon be featured in the Olympics.
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Forest Gate Community School newsletter n Summer 2019
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ON the evening of Thursday, 27th June, the Community Schools Trust, of which FGCS is the lead school, was asked to support Hackney New School, a Free School that is seriously failing its pupils. As an Outstanding school that is consistently ranked among the very best in the country for GCSE results, FGCS is well positioned to provide the skills expertise and experience required. Mrs Whelan has agreed to act as interim Headteacher at Hackney New School, as she has the expertise needed to make an immediate impact. Our new Head of School will be Ms Thahmina Begum. Miss Begum has been
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at Forest Gate Community for more than seven years. She has extensive experience of raising standards and was responsible for FGCS having the best English results in the whole of the country in 2017-8. Her work will be overseen by myself and my deputy Mr Zaman and we will continue to play a lead role in ensuring the very highest standards of academic performance are maintained at FGCS.
Exciting opportunities ahead It has been another fantastic year at Forest Gate Community School. We have celebrated the various successes of our students throughout the year and look forward to a well-deserved summer break. With new changes come new opportunities and I am excited for what the new academic year holds for our students at FGCS. I have seen the school grow from strength to strength over the past seven years and
The new Head of School Ms Begum looks back on a successful academic year.
know how much dedication and passion is invested in our students. I am proud of the efforts from parents, our teachers and of course, our students and I look forward to leading on the continued excellence of FGCS next year.
Kazmeen’s Eton triumph A YEAR 8 cricket prodigy had the “experience of a lifetime” when he got to play a game at Eton College – and his team beat the players from the world-famous private school. School cricket captain Kazmeen Ul Hassan went to the elite public school as a member of the Essex Boys and Girls Cricket Club. The club’s Representative Cricket Programme offers young people the chance to play in places that they would likely not experience otherwise. Kazmeen said: “It was a great day. The facilities there were amazing. “It was even better that we won, albeit narrowly. I’m the captain of the school team. “There is a great spirit in the school team
Teachers share views in workshop gathering TEACHERS from across east London shared their experiences and got classroom tips when Forest Gate Community School hosted its first Teach Meet workshop. Speakers included renowned education consultant Doctor Kenny Frederick, who talked about how making teachers and students feel valued improves learning. She said: “About 33 percent of teachers leave the profession within their first five years of teaching. “If you want to continue to improve
Executive Headteacher Simon Elliott explains about an imminent change in the leadership at Forest Gate.
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PUPILS left the stage with applause ringing in their ears at a stunning performance of a modern take on the classic CS Lewis book, Alice in Wonderland. They performed two shows of Alice in (Boogey) Wonderland, which transported the characters from the story back in time to a 1970s disco club setting. Year 7 Alice Houghton, who took on the lead role of Alice, said: “It went really well. We were rehearsing for months and our first show was definitely the best performance we had done. “I was nervous but when I got on the stage it just all fell into place. It’s nice to have a creative outlet and have the chance to perform something like this.” Year 7 student Zahaara Jones played the role of the Duchess. She said: “We had to learn dances as well as songs. “It was an innovative show and so much fun. I think the teachers and all of our parents were really proud of us.” As well as learning the musical numbers, the students took part in a dance routine, all backed by a band of talented student musicians from Years 7 to 9. Year 7 dancer Maneeah Miah said: “We put so much work into it and the audience reaction showed it had all paid off. “We were all so happy with our performance.”
Ms Begum to take over
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Actors kick up a storm with some disco fever
the quality of teaching, then we must value and invest in our teachers.” Other speakers included the school’s own Yamina Bibi, who talked about the importance of reading, language and vocabulary. Leadership Matters ambassador Bukky Yusuf spoke about the significance of having diversity in the school’s team. In total, almost 100 teachers and education professionals from east London attended the event. Teach Meet events are held all over the country and run by teachers.
and we win a lot, which has made me more confident when playing outside school.” Advice: Executive Headteacher Simon Elliott spoke at the meeting
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Forest Gate Community School newsletter n Summer 2019
Zahaara’s the spelling queen YEAR 9 student Zahaara Jones made sure the inter-schools Spelling Bee title remained at Forest Gate Community. Pupils from Forest Gate Community and The Cumberland School came together for a celebration of spelling at the annual competition in July. Zahaara emerged victorious after fending off challenges from fellow students in a series of increasingly tough spelling rounds. Zahaara said: “It feels amazing to win. I love reading, and am currently reading The Fault In Our Stars. “Good spelling is such an important skill to have. I was very nervous that I was going to make a mistake, but this proves the importance of practice and hard work.”
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Sensory garden a top priority for head duo
OUR new head students have pledged to make the school more environmentally friendly and improve it for pupils with special needs. Year 9 students Eleanor Hind and Adam Patel’s campaign promises included installing recycling bins around the site and building a sensory garden. They were elected after being selected as candidates by our staff and winning the votes of their peers alongside three deputies in June. The pair have the summer to work with their deputies on their strategy for school improvement, taking over officially next September when they are in Year 10. Adam said: “A sensory garden would not only help with air quality, it would also give students who are feeling a bit stressed somewhere to think and reflect. “We want to make it a sensory garden where students who are hard of hearing, visually impaired or have other special needs can enjoy it just as much as everyone else.” Eleanor said: “I’m really happy to have been elected. I wanted to stand because I want to make the school a better place for students. “We want to make people more aware of the environment. Climate change is one of the biggest problems facing our generation. “The school has big recycling bins for things like the canteen but not in the corridors or classrooms for students.” Adam added: “Teachers do everything they can here but there are things that some students might not want to talk to adults about. Hopefully we can help with this and get their views across.”
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Forest Gate Community School newsletter n Summer 2019
Students make great strides with language STUDENTS who have English as a second language before starting at the school have been honoured for their achievements in learning the language. They all came to the school from abroad but have been having one-to-one teaching sessions to help them integrate in lessons and learn in other subjects. The pupils, many of whom now have perfect English after just a few months of lessons, were celebrated for their achievements at a ceremony for friends and families. Year 7 Ramona Hegyesi did not speak a word of English when she moved to London from Hungary two years ago. She said: “I knew no English at all when I came to this country so I’m really proud to be here today. The one on one sessions here have helped so much. “We do reading, writing and speech work. I’m really catching up with the other students now. It feels good to get this award.” Year 7 Constantine Stoica, from Romania, said: “I knew no English at all when I came to
the UK. This school has helped me so much.” Miss Hamid, the school’s Literacy lead, said: “We have 12 doing the one-on-one sessions because as a school we recognised their needs.
“Their improvement has been amazing and this ceremony is to recognise the incredible progress they have made. In some cases, it has been such a short amount of time they have been learning English.”
Mahim plays a key role at fete
Sara’s reward for leadership YEAR 8 Sara has been given a Jack Petchey award for consistently showing outstanding leadership skills during lunch duties.
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STUDENT councillor Mahim Sarkar helped raise money at Woodgrange Infants summer fete by running a bouncy castle stand. The Year 7 student (left) represented the school at the fundraiser to buy book bags for reception children and larger items such as outdoor play equipment. He said: “It was so much fun and nice to help out at something for younger children. We raised quite a bit of money for the school and charity. “It is good to know I helped other students and people in need.”
Forest Gate Community School newsletter n Summer 2019
Students dig in to help out with garden project STUDENTS joined a renowned artist and writer to help with an innovative local garden in a story covered by the Guardian newspaper. Author Sonya Patel Ellis enlisted the help of Forest Gate Community pupils to create artwork for the green space as part of a social action project. The Guardian newspaper came to take photos of the students for a story about Sonya’s and their work. Year 10 Talia Hounsihoue said: “The art workshops were really interesting. We made prints using photography paper and using flowers. “It’s nice to have our work on display. I hadn’t really thought about the community garden before, so it was inspiring to know that space is there for the whole community to use.” Year 10 Rugile Grigaliunaite said: “We learnt about the history of photo printing as well as the environment. “We went a couple of times last year and once this year. “It is nice to know this garden is open to everyone in the community and the Guardian article will help promote the space to everyone.”
Bookworm Ibraheem STUDENTS were tasked with reading as many books as they could in six weeks as part of the Readathon Challenge. Students celebrated their love of literature by taking every opportunity they could to settle down with a book in May and June. They also had to fill in worksheets summarising the novels and picked out their favourite quotes as part of the challenge. Year 8 Ibraheem Ibn-Shafait (right) read 19 books over the six-week period, more than any other student. He said: “I love to read so it wasn’t difficult to read this many books. But the challenge made me think more about what I was reading.” Year 8 Shawn Osuna said: “I enjoyed taking part in the Readathon Challenge because it was a chance to discover new books and talk about them with people.”
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STUDENTS met the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, at a careers day run by the Metropolitan Police at Alexandra Palace.
Prize for brave Tonisha A BRAVE Year 10 student scooped a top public speaking prize after delivering an emotive speech about friendships. Tonisha Amoah took third place in the regional finals of the Jack Petchey Speak Out Challenge with her moving talk entitled Teenage, Tears and Tragedy. At the event held at The City Academy, Hackney in May, Tonisha spoke about her school friend who died last year. She said: “When I signed up to the Speak Out Challenge, I was nervous about talking about it. But my teachers really helped me through it.”
Forest Gate Community School newsletter n Summer 2019